Tufts To Analyze Legislation, Ballot Questions In Real Time

MEDFORD, MA — Tufts University on Thursday announced the creation of a non-partisan Center of State Policy Analysis, which will provide independent analysis of legislative issues and ballot questions in Massachusetts. The cSPA aims to partner with experts to provide real-time analysis to the public and help shape legislative debates.

Former Boston Globe data journalist Evan Horowitz will serve as the Center's executive director. Its advisory council is a who's who of area civics experts and includes former governor Michael Dukakis and former lieutenant governor Jane Swift.

"With a history of policy leadership, and facing gridlock in Washington, Massachusetts has the opportunity to take the lead on issues like climate justice, transportation investment and healthcare," Alan Solomont, ambassador (ret.) and dean of the Tisch College of Civic Life, said in a statement. "Given our mission to study and strengthen civic life, and to promote the power of people and communities to bring about change, Tisch College is proud to host and support this nonpartisan center that can help lawmakers and citizens better understand policy issues and identify solutions."

The cSPA will research key issues in Massachusetts political and civic life, including the economic, environmental, geographic, budgetary and equity implications of legislative proposals and ballot initiatives.

"Having spent time in academia, at think tanks, and in journalism, I think there's a real opportunity to start bridging these worlds – producing relevant, rigorous, readable research on a timeframe that works for policymakers," Horowitz said in a release. "Massachusetts is the perfect place to begin. The commonwealth has the richest collection of academic expertise in the world and a long history of pushing the bounds on policy innovation, from 17th-century public schools to 21st-century healthcare reform."

Read more about upcoming cSPA initiatives from Tufts Now.